In many cases, pharmaceuticals play a role in treating anxiety disorders. But for many patients, therapy in combination with medication or alone is the best option for treatment. In addition, unlike pharmaceuticals, therapy provides you the tools to manage anxiety on your own now and in the future. Various therapeutic techniques have been developed to treat anxiety and have evolved over time, from cognitive-behavioral therapies to psychoanalytic approaches.
In America, nearly 20% of adults and more than 30% of adolescents between 13 and 18 experience anxiety annually. Various anxiety disorder types can benefit from anxiety counseling in Orlando, including:
No matter the particular disorder, the underlying processes they are driven by is often similar to others. For example, anxiety sufferers generally react to unpleasant situations, feelings, and thoughts in powerful ways and often attempt to manage them by avoiding specific triggers. Unfortunately, trigger avoidance usually serves to reinforce worries and fears. Therefore, most modern therapy types address avoidance and negative thinking to help patients manage their anxiety.
Any therapeutic approach aims to help patients understand why they feel the way they do, what triggers them, and how they might change their reactions to them. Many therapy types even teach more practical techniques to help reframe a patient's negative thinking and change their behaviors. Every anxiety disorder is different, so anxiety therapy is tailored to patient-specific diagnoses or symptoms. It can be conducted in a group, couple, family, or individual setting. How often a patient meets with their therapist and for how long depends on their specific diagnosis or symptoms. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals use many different types of anxiety therapy.
This therapy is an experience-oriented nonverbal therapy that uses art to practice relaxation and mindfulness or visual art to process and express emotions. Though this therapy can be used as a stand alone therapy, it is often used with other anxiety treatment methods like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. More research is required to confirm this therapy's effectiveness in reducing symptoms of anxiety because it is a newer form of therapy.
This therapy focuses on relationships and social roles. During IPT, a patient works with their therapist to identify any interpersonal problems like changes in social or work roles. Conflicts with friends or family, unresolved grief, or issues relating to other people. A patient then learns more healthy ways to express their emotions and better ways to communicate with other people. Though this therapy was developed initially for treating major depression, it can also be used when your anxiety primarily relates to your relationships with others, like with social anxiety disorder.
This Freudian therapy model revolves around the belief that a person's anxiety symptoms reflect their unconscious conflicts, and the purpose of the therapy is to resolve these unconscious conflicts. During psychoanalysis, a patient and their therapist will examine their desires, fears, and thoughts to understand better how they view themselves and reduce their level of anxiety. This form of therapy is one of the most intensive and can take years to identify patterns in a patient's thinking.
These are just a few of the types of anxiety counseling in Orlando. Call us today for more information.
Heather Oller is the owner and founder of Orlando Thrive Therapy, Coaching, and Counseling. She is a licensed counselor and a family mediator who has over 23 years of dedicated work as a professional in the mental health field. Through her company's mission, she continues to pave the way for future therapists, and their clients, who want a higher quality of life....and who want to thrive, rather than just survive. You can contact Orlando Thrive Therapy at (407) 592-8997 for more information.